Mike Pence delivers his address after he was sworn in as the 50th governor of the state of Indiana Monday morning on the steps of the Indiana State House. / Matt Kryger / The Star

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Two aspects to the effort to improve struggling schools are particularly frustrating.

First, there is the absence of something we'd all love: a simple quick fix, something that could take every education problem and erase it with a new law or extra spending. Such a fix doesn't exist, and that brings me to Frustration No. 2: the tendency of so many people to insist that such a fix does exist.

Many of the people making such claims should know better. Take Gov. Mike Pence.

In an otherwise elegant inauguration speech, Pence on Monday breezed over the topic of education with a claim so empty that it raised questions about whether he is interested in comprehensive and meaningful debates over schools. Standing on the Statehouse steps, Pence declared that, "There's nothing that ails our schools that can't be fixed by giving parents more choices and teachers more freedom to teach."

That was it. The new governor, who has vowed repeatedly to fix the state's education problems with bold ideas, instead offered a fluffy 21-word soundbite. Those 21 words didn't come close to outlining the scope of the challenges facing teachers, students and schools in cities such as Indianapolis and Gary, as well as in fading rural towns that dot the state.

By suggesting the possibility of such an easy fix, when he should have urged Hoosiers to join the biggest and most complex challenge of this era, Pence did a disservice to all of those trying desperately to improve Indiana's schools. The solutions, after all, will have to be about more than vouchers, charter schools and fewer tests. I would hope the state's new governor understands that.

The state must, for instance, make sure more students arrive at kindergarten prepared to learn, and address the social challenges facing many students of poverty, challenges that stand like a mountain in the way of success in school. There are the mental health issues that lead to classroom disruptions and student failure, and there is a desperate need to recruit more top college students to the field of teaching. Of course, in too many schools filled with at-risk students, a lack of urgency among administrators must be addressed.

Many students, meanwhile, arrive each day at schools that lack the level of programs, classes and opportunities common in other schools. Spending cuts of recent years must be restored. And, yes, schools must find ways to engage those parents who for whatever reason are not engaged in their children's education.

If Pence had made his simplistic statement in an off-the-cuff response to a question, it could be dismissed as political bluster. But it's worrisome that he made it in an inauguration speech in which every word was surely carefully and strategically selected. The two issues he mentioned -- school choice and reducing test-driven demands on teachers -- are fine. But to suggest they alone would lead to full-scale improvements in Indiana's schools is political negligence, and it reinforces a concern that a Pence administration, unlike the one it followed, isn't eager to tackle big problems.

Pence, I should note, has offered admirable proposals to increase career and vocational education options in schools. But he needs to make clear to Hoosiers that truly fixing Indiana schools is a complex challenge -- one that can't be tackled with soundbites or piecemeal strategies.

Significant improvements to Indiana's struggling schools will require a sustained effort topping just about anything the state has every undertaken. There isn't a silver bullet. Everyone needs to understand that -- including the new governor.

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